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How Good Are The Horned Frogs?

Last week provided a handful of highly anticipated matchups between top 25 college football programs, with five games featuring a pair of ranked teams going head-to-head. This Saturday seems to be lacking in that category. Among the best games slated for the weekend: No. 13 Penn State at Michigan, Oklahoma at No. 25 Kansas, No. 3 Texas at Missouri, and Oregon State at No. 7 USC. Not exactly a power lineup.

But, for college football fiends, all eyes should be on the small town of Provo, Utah on Saturday night. Frankly, if the game was happening in a conference with BCS Bowl affiliations, you’d probably have heard all about it by now. The matchup?

No. 8 TCU at No. 16 BYU.

Maybe not the long-standing rivalry or storied programs most college football slugfests boast, but these two are serious. And for Gary Patterson’s undefeated TCU team, it’s a chance to make a statement.

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Red River Report Card: Grading Out The OU/UT Matchup

If you own a television, or computer, or radio, or read a newspaper, or even just have eyes or ears, you probably already know this. But just in case you still own a phone with a hand crank and get your stock tips from ticker tape — in which case, I’m not sure how you ended up here — allow me to break some news to you. There’s a big football game in Dallas tomorrow. No, it doesn’t involve the Cowboys. Amazingly enough, it doesn’t even involve JerryWorld either. It’s the annual Red River Rivalry game between the University of Texas and Oklahoma University at the Cotton Bowl.

Now, I know most of Dallas never attended either school, but considering it’s the biggest sporting even in town tomorrow, we have to say something about it. Does the fact that I’m a UT fan have anything to do with my unabashed interest in this game? Maybe. Does that mean that this post is a little biased? Possibly. But to the average fan of college football in Dallas, it’s a big game that’s happening right in your backyard, and with apologies to SMU, that’s something that doesn’t happen around here all too often. For the rest of you, this can just serve as yet another reminder to stay away from Fair Park tomorrow morning. Here we go…

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Big 12 Conference Question of the Week: Does the League Need a New Football Travel Agent?

I realize we might not be having this discussion if Mike Leach’s whiz-bang offense could move straight ahead for one yard when necessary. But Texas Tech’s 29-28 loss at Houston on Saturday night was just the latest example of what can happen when BCS schools visit non-BCS campuses. Especially Big 12 teams. Wins often don’t mean much, losses too much.

Tech at Houston (loss). Kansas State at Louisiana-Lafayette (loss). Colorado at Toledo (loss). Texas at Wyoming (more difficult for a half than it should have been).

The Big 12 will play more games at non-BCS schools this season than any other BCS league. More than the Pac-10 and Big Ten will play combined. You tell me whether the Big 12 is to be congratulated or criticized in its non-conference scheduling.

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2009 NFL Draft: Cowboys Round-Up

The Cowboys had the most picks of any team on Day 2 (rounds 3-7) after staying quiet on Day 1. Will all 12 of these players make the roster? Who knows, but Jerry & company addressed most of their needs and added quality depth. Let’s take a look at the newest Dallas Cowboys, pick-by-pick:

Round 3 (#66) Jason Williams, LB, Western Illinois, 6-1, 240 lbs.

The “experts” called this pick a reach, but I had Williams rated as a solid 4th round  player so it wasn’t too big of a risk in the 3rd round. He has excellent size and speed combo with a reportedly sub 4.5 40-yard dash, but wasn’t invited to the combine. Williams is expected to add depth at linebacker in the middle and compete for a starting job down the road.

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2009 NFL DRAFT: Final Mock Draft

Draft Day is finally here. Despite the top 10 not having the dynamic talent of past years, there is still a lot of intrigue. The biggest rumor over the past 48 hours is at the #3 spot and the Kansas City Chiefs and new General Manager Scott Pioli. LSU DE Tyson Jackson has been the hot name lately, but giving three overall money to an end who isn’t a dynamic pass rusher seems like huge reach. With Aaron Curry staring them in the face, I don’t see how the Chiefs can pass on this versatile backer out of Wake Forest.

Other questions will be: (1) offensive tackles and where do they fall and in what order? (2) the Cleveland Browns at five are a true wildcard because they could go so many different ways on defense or grab a playmaker on offense like Crabtree. (3) Which receiver (if they take a WR) do the Raiders take? Would they pass on Crabtree for the speedsters Jeremy Maclin or Darrius Heyward-Bey?

Below is my final two-round, first day mock draft. Tomorrow I will post rounds 3-7 for the second day (or Jerry’s day).

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2009 NFL DRAFT: Prospects Have DFW Ties

I think stating that Texas is proud of their football might be an understatement. Many people think of the high school ranks when talking about Texas football, but let’s not forget about strong representation the Lone Star State has each year on the last weekend in April: the NFL Draft.

The NFL Draft has always included an impressive number of Texans, whether homegrown or prospects who attended a Texas college, school, or university. The 2009 NFL Draft is no different with close to 40 players who have ties to the state of Texas and a legitimate chance to be playing professionally next season as rookies in the National Football League.

While the Cowboys might not have a first round pick, Dallas will still be well-represented in the early first round as three of my top four prospects in this draft come from the DFW area (QB Matthew Stafford, WR Michael Crabtree, OT Jason Smith). Below I list the top 20 prospects from the state of Texas for the 2009 NFL Draft and give my prediction to where they might land come draft day. Note the players hometown is in parenthesis.

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Possible Reason Why People Hate the Media:

Here is Billy Gillisipie, former Aggie Coach, and now former UK coach, too, trying the “I am on the phone” trick. I will bet whatever Billy Clyde’s buyout is that there is nobody on that phone. Great use of a prop, though. Of course, the results he gets are not what he had planned as Lexington TV man has watched his “how to be a Investigative Reporter” instructional DVD.

Funny and Sad. Thank Goodness for Youtube.

Blake Griffin: NBA Superstar?

I must make a confession: I did not fill out a bracket. Honest. I do watch the NCAA tournament, but I do it more in this decade of my life as a primer for the NBA Draft in June – so that I am properly familiar with all of the lottery picks who are from the USA. Then, from naturally camping out on the couch, a story line or 3 will jump out at me during the tournament, and by the Final 4, I am going crazy over the tournament. I just don’t need my brackets or to hear about your brackets (no offense) to fall in love with the annual March tradition.

Anyway, when watching it every year, I try to see who the experts like for the draft, and then see if I see what they see. According to about 50 mock drafts , it would appear that there is NO question who the #1 pick in the draft is going to be:

OU’s big, strong Blake Griffin. (more…)